Free Printable - My Word of the Year New Year - Montessori Nature Printables

Do you want to encourage your preschool and kindergarten students to set goals and reflect on their own progress? Our “My Word of the Year” Free Printable is the perfect tool to engage and inspire young minds as they embark on a new year of learning and growth. This blog post will guide you through the many benefits of this activity, from fostering language skills to developing an early understanding of goal-setting. With colorful visuals and age-appropriate prompts, this printable is sure to captivate your little ones and set them on a path of success for the year ahead. Don’t miss out on this valuable resource – it’s time to empower your preschoolers with the power of words and self-reflection!

As we usher in a brand-new year, it’s important to encourage our preschool students to set positive intentions and nurture their growing minds. While resolutions may be too complex for young learners, introducing a “Word of the Year” concept can help them embrace values, develop self-awareness, and foster personal growth. To make this activity even more enjoyable and engaging, we have created a free printable that you can utilize in your preschool classrooms. Read on to discover how this simple yet profound activity can benefit your little learners.

Harnessing the Power of Words:
At an early stage in their development, preschool students may not fully comprehend the concept of resolutions. However, they are primed to understand and explore the power of words. By focusing on a single word, we can teach them about intentions, goals, positive traits, and virtues.

Encouraging Self-Reflection:
The “Word of the Year” activity serves as a gentle introduction to the concept of self-reflection. By guiding your students to think about what they would like to embody in the year ahead, they are prompted to turn their attention inward. This process helps develop their emotional intelligence and encourages self-awareness.

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Promoting Vocabulary Development:
As educators, we are constantly seeking ways to enrich our students’ vocabulary. The “Word of the Year” activity provides a perfect opportunity to introduce new words and their meanings. Encourage your preschoolers to express their chosen words in their own way, sparking creativity and language development.

To facilitate this activity, we have designed a fun free printable.

Incorporating the Activity into the Classroom:
Once you have printed out the free printable, set aside some time in your lesson plan for each preschooler to complete theirs. Provide plenty of crayons, markers, glitter, and other decorative elements for them to adorn their printables. Encourage them to explain their word choices to their peers, helping to create a supportive classroom community.

Celebrating and Revisiting the Words:
As the year progresses, don’t forget to celebrate and revisit the chosen words. Dedicate a bulletin board or a wall in your classroom to display the printables, allowing your students to have a visual reminder of their intentions throughout the year. Encourage open conversations about how their chosen words relate to their daily experiences, promoting an ongoing sense of purpose and growth.

Empowering our preschool students to choose their “Word of the Year” allows them to set positive intentions and embrace personal growth in a way that resonates with their age group. By utilizing our free printable, you provide young minds with a powerful tool for self-expression and reflection. Let’s make this year one of newfound self-awareness and conscious intention for our preschool learners – their futures are incredibly bright!

Free printable – my word of the year

You are invited to download this New Year printable for preschool and kindergarten students to support their social-emotional development. Inspire your students to grow, think creatively, and practice their early learning literacy skills with this resource. It’s a fun and engaging way to get the children aged 3-6 to improve their fine motor, practice tracing and handwriting whilst they ponder on one word they wish to focus on.

This resource includes student activity worksheets with 35 different words such as kindness, peace, friendly, believe, move, dare, shine, adventure, etc.

Here is what’s included:

Student activity worksheet My Word of the Year x 35

Age: Preschool ages 3 – 6 years

Subjects and uses in the classroom: Literacy Centers, Fine motor, Prewriting, Critical thinking, Character Education, Social-Emotional, New Year Activities

Here is how to use it:

Here is how you might like to use this printable in your Montessori and early childhood classroom.

Gather some inspiring books for children to read in their own quiet time or in a small group. Challenge them to think of one aspect of their character or everyday life they wish to invest their energy into pursuing. Call each page and ask children to raise their hands if they hear a word they wish to have.

The students then may like to read, trace, write and color their words and glue them into their journals. The flip side of the worksheet can be used by the child to draw an illustration of their word. Students with more advanced skills might enjoy writing down the word’s definition and its etymology.

Since it can be hard for little ones to keep their attention fixed on a word for the whole year, I also made the “My Word of the Month“. In this case, you can do this exercise monthly with your students.